Mowed a section of land on neighbors property

[hayden]

It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Walking on somebody else property after they improperly built a fence is not a crime in my book.
If it ever comes up say you assumed the fence was on the property line.

This is the problem. People focused exclusively on what's good for them or what they want. What ever happened to doing the right thing? What has happened to our values.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I guess I come from a different place than the OP. I would contact the neighbor and apologize for being on his land in the first place, explain my mistake in locating the property boundary, offer to show him what and where I made "changes" to his property and ask him what, if anything he wanted me to do about it (to remedy/fix the changes I made).

Then I would cut a new trail ON MY OWN SIDE of the friggin' property line and move on with my life.

 

[Jstpssng]

I didn't know that a fence was a property marker, or required to be on the line. If I were to build one between me and my neighbor it would be far enough off the line so that I could maintain it.

 

[ultrarunner]

A lot of the ranches set back 10’ so they can easily drive the perimeter and make repairs as necessary…

 

[RjCorazza]

I didn't know that a fence was a property marker, or required to be on the line. If I were to build one between me and my neighbor it would be far enough off the line so that I could maintain it.

People are funny with what they perceive as property lines. I have a small stream that runs 40' inside of my property, and both neighbors believed the stream was the property border. One reality advertisement even listed that the property included a stream when the house was being sold.
Generally speaking about adverse possession, it makes for interesting conversations, but it's almost impossible (and expensive to try) in the real world.

 

[dougtrr2]

The only future problem I could see is that I could have acquired 10 feet more of property through adverse possession.

To me this statement sounds like the adverse possession would happen "accidentally". There are a lot of laws that vary from state to state, but I am pretty sure adverse possession doesn't happen accidentally. The person trying to get the property would have to take active action to make it happen. No one is going to come up out of the blue and say "The path is on his property, its yours now".

I guess I am in the "white knight" camp. Either make a new path and quit using the old one or go talk to the neighbor. It kind of boggles my mind that it is even a question.

Doug in SW IA

 

[jmc]

..... After looking at my survey a year later I noticed that my neighbors property extends 10 ft on the other side of their barbed wire fence toward my....

Long shot, but if that survey was just the GIS property lines overlaid on a satellite photo, I think those lines are frequently offset from the actual property lines.

 

[Richard]

I noticed that my neighbors property extends 10 ft on the other side of their barbed wire fence toward my property.
So now that part of the walking trail is on their property. Nothing has been said and I doubt they even know. I'm just not saying anything as it hasn't been an issue.
The only future problem I could see is that I could have acquired 10 feet more of property through adverse possession.

Just for kicks.... what if their fence wasn't there? Would you in the future "have acquired" hundreds of feet, towards their house?

Seems to me that adverse possession is more a process of someone trying to take a piece of land.... not having it forced upon you because of a fence line, no??

So, if you know it's there, you know it's his property and you have no intent of trying to take ownership because you know and acknowledge it's his property......where's the problem?

I'd just swing by and with a smile, tell your neighbor you goofed up.....you presumed fence line was border, made a path... you will ignore said path as it's on his property. Own up to it. If someone is acting in good faith, I don't see where you would acquire it through adverse (important word there) possession.


*I am not an attorney nor, did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night nor, once over the last 30 years

 

[zzvyb6]

A resident on my road asked me to install a fence on her property because her neighbor was continuing to encroach on her land a few feet more every year. After a while they were storing a travel trailer and mowing down parts of her garden. I looked at the GIS survey line records kept by the township and easily saw where a property line ought to be, connecting the corners of her 2 other neighbor's properties. PLUS, I used google maps, which in many cases can show historical aerial photos of properties around here. Using this info, I easily found the concrete survey monuments AND the remaining concrete stubs where a line of fence posts had been installed in the 50's.

Tractor hole digger, posts and wire in hand, and we rebuilt the old fence line.

When tightening up the wire, the neighbor came storming out demanding to know who did a survey to show the property line.
"Lewis and Clark" I replied.

"Oh, OK then, I guess." she said. Never saw or heard form her again. Garden got restored to it's original size.

In my own case, I own the mineral rights on my acreage which most home owners around here could care less about until a gravel company (which does own them) comes around and starts mining 'their' material. They get an access road, truck traffic, dirt flying, and noise from the crusher(s). So, I enjoy telling the miners to go away..
Since I also 'own' the electric utility poles and to the center of the road without ANY easements on my deed for access, I've benefited from suing the cable companies for stringing their overhead coax & fiber lines on them when I wasn't watching out for their activities. They had to pay me rent for the time they were in use AND were not permitted on my property to remove them. As you might guess, I took my merry time to cut them down.

If YOU were to cut a trail on MY land, I'd want a restraining order and damage restoration payments, even though we are friendly and good neighbors, because someday they might sell all or part of it to some developer who wants to build a neighborhood access road, houses, oil well or a deer stand on MY property and it's not going to be be a friendly interaction anymore. The restraining order provides the legal basis for any future disputes about who owns what, where, and how properties are secured. My lawyer is a 'barracuda' well known for permanently solving land ownership, encroachment, deed, and jurisdictional 'problems'. Once you see how developers or just bad neighbors muscle their way onto your property for access, tree cutting, fence removal, and debris storage, your temperment, patience, and anger levels will change overnight.

 

[bmaverick]

White knights in force.
I cut the trail not knowing about the boundary lines.
Not trying to claim more land
If neighbor wants to move fence then great.
There is no moral issue here.
That’s is all.

Why would a neighbor want to move a fence. A fence has no clear definition of setting a property line.
The neighbors to the south of me lease out their 20 acre farm field. I have my fence back 10ft due to the contractors that come in and spray the crops with whatever killer weed chemicals. Yeah, it over sprays and drifts to my side. I don't want my cattle eating any of the residue. Thus the fence line, NOT property line is moved back.

In a court of law, a fence line doesn't define a property line. Thus, the neighbor has no need to move the fence.

 

[EddieWalker]

When my neighbor bought his land, he hired a crew to install a 5 strand barbed wire fence. At that time, the trees were really thick, so he had them build the fence through the trees, and as close to the property line as they could get.

When I got my goats and horse, I decided that I needed a fence that would keep the goats in and the horses safe. I also didn't want any trees close to my fence that would fall on it or drop branches on it.

Fortunately, there was a crew working on the Natural Gas Pipeline on his property, and they had a surveyor in the crew. They found the corners for us and I was able to set a wood post there.

After removing some of the trees, you can see how far off the line he was. My land is to the left of this picture. The space between the line and his fence goes from 30 feet at this corner, to 8 feet at the other end, 860 feet away. He gave me permission to remove the trees on his land, and he even helped with a few of them.

Now his land is for sale and I'm wondering what he is going to do with his fence?

 

[dodge man]

I’m a land surveyor and one question I got asked a lot does a fence define a survey. The answer is always maybe. Surveying is walking a fine line between blindly following old fences a saying they are the boundary and ignoring them and putting the line where it theoretically should be. The courts often like old fences to be the boundary if they are close.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^

True. However, if the deeds of record reference corners which can be found or reproduced and there is no mention of said fences, they don't mean squat. That is the situation which the OP describes.

 

[HamishMacCheap]

Decades ago, I bought a couple of acres from a good friend whose house was next to the property he sold me. He told me where he thought the property line was and when my wife and I built, we had a septic system installed and a well drilled. Some year after that, my friend sold his property and moved back into town. The new owner had a survey done and I discovered my well was on his property by maybe twenty feet or so. I offered to but a strip of land but he refused. I had to have a well drilling company drill a new well and move the pipes and well pump. It was not money that I had just laying around but it was necessary.

Since then, after I buy a property or tract of land, I use a Registered Land Surveyor to do his professional thing. I think the surveyor starts at the county clerk's office with research before he goes to the field. In any event, although expensive, its is necessary.

I have bought and sold a number of hunt properties in the last twenty plus years and I have paid a surveyor to provide a plat in each case. Every time.

You can't rely on speculation or what someone in the family says are property lines. Until you have a professional surveyor complete the survey and provide a plat, every thing is uncertainty.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
The first step though, is to read your deed.

 

[two_bit_score]

I’m a land surveyor and one question I got asked a lot does a fence define a survey. The answer is always maybe. Surveying is walking a fine line between blindly following old fences a saying they are the boundary and ignoring them and putting the line where it theoretically should be. The courts often like old fences to be the boundary if they are close.

Then the question arises "how close is close enough"? The answer is "it depends".

In Texas we have a great resource. Texas AgLife from the Ag Extension Service. tag based on what is being viewed. We filter the output of wp_title() a bit - see agriflex_filter_wp_title() in functions.php. --> <title> Home - Texas Agriculture Law

Property owners can get good answers to these situations through her blog and the materials published by Texas Ag Extension Service.

 

[two_bit_score]

Since then, after before I buy a property or tract of land, I use a Registered Land Surveyor to do his professional thing. I think the surveyor starts at the county clerk's office with research before he goes to the field. In any event, although expensive, its is necessary.

You should do it before you close the sale of the property, not after. This is usually done as a contigency in the Contract for Sale if the buyer is not furnishing a current survey and you are paying for the survey. You make the sale contigent on a survey that you are satisfied with represents the boundry claimed by the seller.

 

[tradosaurus]

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In Texas you won't acquire any legal rights to anything under those facts. Even a layman like me knows that.

Will aren’t u so smart. [emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji6]]

 

[tradosaurus]

It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Walking on somebody else property after they improperly built a fence is not a crime in my book.
If it ever comes up say you assumed the fence was on the property line.

I really didn’t know it was their property until a year later. When we moved in I just assumed their fence marked the boundary line.

Our walking trail that is on their land isn’t that long and we rarely walk the trail.
I’m not interested in opening a can of worms by bringing the issue to the neighbor as it’s a non issue for me.
45 acres is enough for me.

 

[tradosaurus]

I guess I come from a different place than the OP. I would contact the neighbor and apologize for being on his land in the first place, explain my mistake in locating the property boundary, offer to show him what and where I made "changes" to his property and ask him what, if anything he wanted me to do about it (to remedy/fix the changes I made).

Then I would cut a new trail ON MY OWN SIDE of the friggin' property line and move on with my life.

Sounds complicated. I’m moving on with my life regardless.
Really a big nothing burger that a few posters are acting like I’m living on the extra 10’ x 100 ft of their land.

That section has always been on the other side of the fence for a long time.

I probably did the neighbor a solid by removing brush next to that section of fence. And keeping limbs off of the fence.